Brown notches fifth consecutive Plenty of Grace victory

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Regal Glory reeled in pacesetting longshot Platinum Paynter in deep stretch to win Sunday’s $100,000 Plenty of Grace Stakes by a half-length, giving trainer Chad Brown his fifth consecutive victory in this race as well as a sweep of the weekend turf stakes at Aqueduct.

Regal Glory, the 3-5 favorite, was making her first start since winning the Grade 3 Ladies Turf Stakes at Kentucky Downs last Sept. 12. Since then, her breeder and original owner, Paul Pompa Jr., died and Regal Glory went through the sales ring, bringing a final bid of $925,000 by owner Peter Brant, who returned Regal Glory to Brown, the mare’s original trainer.

On Sunday, Regal Glory won for the seventh time from 12 starts and, in winning her sixth stakes race, she increased her career earnings to $828,884.

In a scratch-reduced field of five, Regal Glory was between horses going into the first turn and had her head up, resenting the hold jockey Jose Ortiz had on her.

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Down the backside, Ortiz was able to get Regal Glory into the clear, albeit a little wide, and she relaxed nicely, sitting about three lengths off the pace. Platinum Paynter, under Luis Rodriguez Castro, set fractions of 24.71 seconds for the quarter and 49.14 for the half with Myhartblongstodady chasing her from second.

Castro said when he asked his filly to run at the quarter pole, Platinum Paynter gave him another kick, but Regal Glory, swung four wide by Ortiz for the stretch drive, caught Platinum Paynter at the sixteenth pole and went for the victory.

Regal Glory, a daughter of Animal Kingdom, covered the mile over “good” ground in 1:36.49 and returned $3.40 as the favorite.

“I had to take a hold of her and she doesn’t like it when you take a big hold of her, she gets out a bit,” Ortiz said. “As soon as I put her in the clear, she relaxed well and from the backside on it was a beautiful trip.”

Myhartblongstodady got third by a nose over Counterparty Risk, also trained by Brown. Call Me Love finished last. Kilkea, Sweet Turn, and Xanthique scratched, as did main-track-only entrants Daria's Angel and Flashndynamite.

Brown first won the Plenty of Grace in 2016 with Mrs. McDougal and the following years with Light in Paris, Uni and Fifty Five. The Plenty of Grace wasn’t run in 2020 as the Aqueduct spring meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Saturday, Brown won the $100,000 Danger’s Hour with Delaware.

Assistant trainer Dan Stupp, who saddled Regal Glory on Sunday, said the win was “pretty comfortable. She did what she had to do first time off the bench.”